DALTON, Ga. — It’s the one blemish on what is otherwise a perfect season, the one stain on a sparkling résumé.

Dalton State College’s basketball team can avenge its only loss of the 2016-17 season with a trip to Montgomery, Ala., to face Faulkner University on Saturday at 4 p.m. EST. The sixth-ranked Roadrunners lost to the 22nd-ranked Eagles 89-83 at the Dalton Convention Center on Dec. 3, and they are eager to return the favor.

“It’s a huge game,” Dalton State junior guard Isaiah Box said. “They got us here, but I think we when go to their place we will be ready. We’ve (had) a week to prepare for them, so there’s no reason for us not to be ready.”

Since that loss the Roadrunners have won 12 straight games and are one short of tying the school record for most consecutive victories, set in the inaugural season in 2013-14. Dalton State’s last game was a 79-70 win over Coastal Georgia on Saturday.

There’s more at stake than simply a historic streak. Dalton State has a one game lead over William Carey for first place in the Southern States Athletic Conference standings, while Faulkner sits two games back following consecutive defeats to Martin Methodist and Middle Georgia State.

A victory for the Roadrunners (17-1, 9-1) on Saturday gives them a three-game lead over the Eagles (13-7, 8-3) and erases Faulkner’s tiebreaker advantage from the previous defeat. Dalton State also has games remaining against other top conference opponents, including on the road to Martin Methodist (13-7, 7-3) on Feb. 9 and at home to William Carey (13-4, 7-2) on Feb. 18. Dalton State has eight games left after Saturday’s matchup.

The team finishing first in the regular season standings receives an automatic bid to the NAIA Men’s Division I national tournament in Kansas City, Mo., March 15-21 without having to win the conference tournament, which is March 1-4 in Montgomery. The SSAC tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the national tournament. If the same team wins the regular season and ttournament championships, the second place finisher in the conference tournament receives an automatic bid. There are 16 at-large bids.

Dalton State coach Tony Ingle said he won’t hide the importance of the Faulkner game from his players.

“They know what’s on the line,” Ingle said. “Players always know. Nowadays you can’t get past that. But we have to go to their place and there’s a lot to play for. It’s a huge game for both teams.”

In the defeat, the Roadrunners had their worst shooting performance of the season as they hit on just 38.5 percent of their shots. They missed their first 14 shots from the field and were 7 of 32 from the 3-point line. Despite its shooting woes, Dalton State still led by as much as nine late in the first half and 39-34 at halftime.

A 9-0 run by Faulkner gave the Eagles a lead with 15 minutes to go and they would stretch that lead to nine points with six minutes remaining before an 11-2 run by the Roadrunners tied the game once again.

Faulkner prevailed in the final minutes thanks in large part to free throws made by Di’Mar Hill. The senior — a First-Team All-Conference selection and NAIA All-American honorable mention in 2015-16 — made 15 of 19 attempts from the free-throw line, including eight in the final two minutes, on his way to a 29-point effort. Hill was also named the NAIA national player of the week later in the season on Jan. 3.

Another major factor in the game was Dalton State forwards Carnilious Simmons and J’Quayveon Williams playing limited minutes due to foul trouble. Simmons, who is tied with Box for the team lead in scoring at 15.1 points per game and also averages 10.3 rebounds, played just nine minutes and had season lows for points (5) and rebounds (3). Williams played 18 minutes but was effective with his time, scoring 16 points.

Hill hasn’t played since Jan. 3 with what Faulkner’s athletics website described in a release as a hand injury. Faulkner Sports Information Director Ryan Bartels said Wednesday that Hill is considered day-to-day.

The Eagles star guard also missed the first eight games of the season with a leg injury, but has averaged 23.8 points in the six games he’s played. Ingle said the team will prepare for him to play and if he does, the Roadrunners must do a better job of staying out of foul trouble and keeping Hill off the free-throw line.

“(Simmons) only played nine minutes in that game and (Williams) got in foul trouble too so we had two of our four good rebounders that barely played and that’s huge,” Ingle said. “We have to keep them on the floor. Hill is an All-American and shot 19 foul shots, so I know that will be the two keys. Keep Simmons and Williams on the court and don’t let them shoot so many foul shots.”

Simmons admitted he has been looking forward to this game, but is trying not to put too much emphasis on it. Instead, he is focusing on the team’s goal of winning a conference championship, and winning this game is another step.

“I can’t wait to bring it to them,” Simmons said. “But teamwork makes the dream work. I’m just going to keep going hard and if we do what we are supposed to then everything will work out.”